Non-traumatic Cerebral Insult in Children: Intensive Care Aspects
A significant proportion of children requiring medical intensive care during a critical illness has non-traumatic cerebral insults. For example, central nervous system (CNS) infection, hypoxic/ischemic encephalopathy, metabolic encephalopathy, refractory status epilepticus, multisystem disease and shock syndromes account for almost 30% of admissions to our own intensive care unit. Important features which differentiate these patients from others requiring this level of care and intervention include the multifactorial disease processes leading to cerebral impairment and the difficulty of assessing change in cerebral state purely clinical means. This paper will discuss both general pediatric aspects and the role of nonclinical neurological monitoring used in management.
KeywordsStatus Epilepticus Cerebral Perfusion Pressure Refractory Status Epilepticus Poor Outcome Patient Organic Aciduria
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
- 18.Prior PF, Maynard DE (1986) Monitoring in the intensive care unit. In: Monitoring cerebral function: Long-term monitoring of EEG and evoked potentials, 2nd edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 232–256Google Scholar
- 20.Tasker RC, Boyd SG, Matthew DJ, Harden A (1988) EEG monitoring in children treated with thiopentone for uncontrolled seizures. Electroencephalogr clin Neurophysiol (in press)Google Scholar